Grain drier



- Dec. 6, 1949 w. E. TOMLINSON ET AL GRAIN DRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 5, 1947 Y INVENTOR. William [0 RmZ z vsan Ben X 70??? ATTIZI RN EYS Dec. 6, 1949 w. E. TOMLINSON ET AL 9 GRAIN DRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 5, 1947 x Mi III/IA Ill/ll INVENTOR. William E. 7o'mlz'rzson flew A. 75mZz'nson Patented Dec. 6, 1949 William E. Tomiinsonand-Eben. ram

Hector, Minin- Application September 5, 19M, Sawfly-772,284

z Glam (o1. seast This invention relates to: dryers dehydrators for dryinggrai-rr. and, other agriculture? products, and in particular and insulated have an endless wiremesh: conveyor belt with means for feeding, grain to the belt'and from the housing, and means for supplyingair at relatively high temperatures and also meansfor exhaust ing the air, drawing it through the grain.

The purpose of" this invention is to provide an: improved dryer for gramand the; like wherein the grainmay be subiected, to intense heat and then cooled before being discharged therefrom and in which the temperature; volume and. velocity of air passing therethrouglr, speed of the: grain conveying means and the amountof; grain fed: to the device, may readily be regulated;

Various. devices and machines: have been provided for drying and: dehydrating grain. and other products and although some have used steam as the heating agent, it has been found desirable to use higher temperatures for some grain; was this. thought in mind-this invention contemplates agrain dryer having an oil burner. witl rci'rci'i'lating means for applying heat from the burnerto the grain and also circulating meanstor cool ing; the grain.

The object of this invention is, therefore;- to

tense heat and then cooled, which isof a simple and economical construction.

With these and other objects in view the invention embodies an elongated substantially rectangular shaped housing with a horizontally dis-'- posed conveyor extending therethrough, a cembustion chamber below the conveyor, a coof air compartment through which the" discharge end of the conveyor travels, exhaust blowers in the combustion chamber and cool air compartment; means feeding grain to-the conveyor, and'mean'sr discharging grain from the conveyor;

Other features and advantages of the inven-' tion consist in the details ofconstruction, cont and arrangement of parts as 3 hereinafter more fully assented; i'flustratecr'm the accompanying drawings; which disclose the preferred embodmient oI-f tlfie invention, arid tion through the dryer with parts In elevation and darts brorenraway;

Figure 6 is a detail showing; a secti'onthrdugn the's'pr eldii shown ififigulfe 5; I I V I Referring; ri'dW to Hit? drawings wherein 1'iTi reference characters; indicate corresponding parts endressiwife mesh eonteyor'eeit 101 a reed Hooter I l" a discharge screw taafi 0H Hurhi'? [3 ex,- hausters [land f5, and amusing f5.

'rfieedaveydi m formed or wire of a mess surname: for namin gram and this amounted on a Hea pul y ff at the disc arge" end, and a, tan tunes {'8 that amounted on a snare 19 ifibe'aring's 210 and the besrm sare fifovi'dedwith tare-up elements 212'; The bearings witlijthe takeg n elements are mounted" sufiports 22 in the. end. of'the' Housing. The need sures:

mg" a pul e 2r thereon through the. start is rotated from a sandy 25' are reductidnigar by a belt. 26. The reduction ear; as indicatedbythe r'l umeral' 2ft; isuriven from a motor" '28 Eye belt 29 and pulleys 3lIa'ri'd 3!".

The belt m of'tlie c nveyortraveis over spaced" longitudinally extending; sup orting bar's 3'2that' and z; to eve iy distribute an agitate the grarn 'j as it travels through tne dryingi chamber? The" rods 3T are also mounted in the side wens 34 and? 35. The feed" hopper- H may be suppliecf froni" garner bin or the" like, and as" shown Figure 1;

the hopper s fqrnreu lay a; fiartitibn" 381s15aced from an end wau'ssef trienousmg; aiid'thelower end of the partition stops at the point 40 and is provided with a gate 4| that may be raised and lowered by a hand wheel (not shown) on a shaft 43 through pinions 44 and racks 45. The lower end of the hopper is provided with a bafiie 46 to guide the rain to the belt and by adjusting the gate to the proper elevation the film of grain on the belt is readily controlled.

The screw conveyor 12 is provided on a shaft 41 which is driven from the shaft 23 of the head pulley ll of the conveyor by a belt 48 traveling over pulleys 49 and 50, as shown in Figure 4'. The screw delivers the grain from the discharge end of the conveyor to a chute at the side of 5 the housing. The screw is positioned in a semicircular trough 52 that is positioned to receive grain from the conveyor l0. V

Below the discharge end of the conveyor is an oil burner i3, supplied from an oil pump 53 and provided with air under pressure by a blower 54 actuated by a motor 55, which also drives the oil pump through a belt 56 and pulleys 51 and 58. The oil burner is positioned in a combustion chamber 59 lined with suitable firebrick 60 and a; horizontally disposed insulating partition 6| is.

provided above the combustion chamber to insulate a substantial portion of the discharge end of the conveyor from the heat to provide a cooling chamber that is separated from the drying chamber by a vertically disposed transverse partition 62. The partition 62 is provided with an opening 63 through which the upper belt of the conveyor passes and agate B4 is provided on the partition to regulate the. open area above the belt. The lower end of the gate 64 is provided with an apron 65 and the elevation of the gate may be adjusted by a handwheel 66 on a shaft 61 through pinions 68 and racks 69.

The cooling chamber is separated from the end of the housing by a partition H providing a compartment 12 for the motors and other equipment. Check doors l3 and 14 are provided in the side walls with a door 13 positioned in the dryer and a door 14 in the cooling chamber;

Openings [5 and I6 are also provided in the side walls 34 and 35 to admit cooling air to the cooling chamber below, the upper belt of the conveyor and these openings are positioned above the insulated partition 6|, as shown in Figure 1.

An exhauster 14 with a, motor 18 is provided in the upper wall 19 of the housing and the exhauster is located adjacent the intake hopper so that a forced draft is provided to draw air through the combustion chamber and through grain on the belt of the conveyor; and a similar exhauster l5 with a motor BI is also mounted in the upper wall 19 and located in the cooling through for cooling.

The complete housing IBris' formed with insulated walls having inner and outer panels with chamber to maintain a circulation of air thereinsulating material between the panels and suitpart of which is suspended from a plate 84 on the under side of the upper wall 79 and the plate is also provided with a slot which is closed. by a 4 cover plate so against the inner surface of the wall, and the gear shaft 61 of the partition 62 extends through the slot 89 with the hand wheel 66 on the outer end.

The construction of the dryer will be readily understood from the foregoing description. In use grain is supplied to the feed hopper II from which it is fed to the upper belt of the conveyor and as it is carried through the housing the exhauster l4 drawsthe hot air-from the combustion chamber through the grain thereby accelerating drying, and then as the grain passes the partition 62 the exhauster I5 draws cool air through it so that it is cooled before it is discharged from the housing by the screw conveyor l2.

- It will be understood that modifications may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

- 1. A continuous grain dryer having in combination an elongated housing having a receiving end and a delivery end, an endless, porous conveyor extending horizontally throughout substantially the length of said housing and medially disposed relative to the height thereof, a hopper in the receiving end of said housing adapted to deliver continuously at stratum of grain upon the receiving end of said conveyor, means including a spout for delivering dry grain from the delivery end of said housing, a blast type burner mounted in the lower portion of said housing below said conveyor and directed longitudinally and centrally of said housing toward the receiving end thereof, a transverse partition dividing the interior of said housing into a larger hot chamber extending from a point inwardly of said burner to the receiving end of said housing and a cooling chamber extending from said partition to the delivery end of said housing, partitioning means enclosing said burner and its combustion chamber and including walls spaced from the side walls of said housing adjacent the delivery end and forming with said side walls, up-

, wardly extending ducts forming a part of said cooling chamber and communicating with the upper unobstructed portion of said chamber through said porous conveyor and the grain carried thereon, said transverse partition having an aperture in the central portion thereof for accommodating said conveyor and the stratum of grain carried thereby, the sides of said housing having cool air intake passages adjacent the bottom thereof in communication with said ducts and a large blower mounted centrally in the upper" portion of said heating chamber above said conveyor and having air inlets at both ends thereof and a tangential discharge extending through the top of said housing whereby hot air and products of combustion willbe drawn and circulated upwardly through said porous conveyor and the stratum of grain thereon and then discharged from the dryer and whereby cool air will be drawn through said inlets and upwardly through said ducts and through the delivery portion of said conveyorand circulated in said cooling chamber.

2. A continuous grain dryer having in combi-,

nation an elongated housing having a receiving end and a delivery end, an endless porous conveyor extending horizontally throughout substantially the length of said housing and medially disposed relative to the height thereof, a hopper in the receiving end of said housing adapted to deliver a stratum of grain over the full width of the receivin end of said conveyor, means including a spout for delivering dry grain from the delivery end of said housing, heating means mounted in the lower portion of said housing for delivering hot air below said conveyor and to the intermediate portion of said housing and the portion adjacent the receiving end, a transverse partition dividing the interior of said housing into a larger heating chamber and a cooling chamber which extends from said partition to the delivery end of said housing, said housing having cool air inlets adjacent the lower portion thereof and communicating with said cooling chamber, said cooling chamber being in communication with said heating chamber, suction blower means mounted within said housing above said conveyor for drawing air and gaseous material upwardly through said conveyorgand the stratum of grain thereon and for discharging the drawn air and gaseous matter exteriorly of said housing and a series of spaced rake bar-s travers- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 473,263 Proctor Apr. 19, 1892 1,748,136 Lipsius Feb. 25, 1930 2,125,382 Lykken et a1 Aug. 2, 1938 

